If you manage a new or growing venture, chances are that you spend a lot of your time in meetings. Among others, meetings are critical to strategize new opportunities, assess different ways to accomplish tasks, set and update goals, and to ensure that all team members are aligned.

However, since ventures must focus the majority of their time and efforts on executing opportunities, there is a significant risk for them to spend too much time in meetings strategizing. This article provides some tips to keep meetings effective.

I recently wrote a post entitled Smugness Equals Entrepreneurial Opportunity that suggested that a business that acts smugly or arrogantly should be sending a welcome message to entrepreneurs to steal their customers from them.

In the 1989 movie "Field of Dreams," a corn farmer hears voices telling him to build a baseball field. The voices say, "If you build it, they will come."

Unfortunately in the world of startups and technology, often people build it, but no one comes. The missing element for these ventures is effective marketing. If no one knows about your great invention, website, or product/service, no one will use it or buy it.

Stanford psychology professor Carol Dweck in her new book "Mindset: The New Psychology of Success," addresses the fascinating issue of why some people achieve their potential while equally talented others don't.

According to the 2006 Angel Market Analysis released yesterday by the Center for Venture Research at the University of New Hampshire, in 2006, the angel investor market experienced steady growth. Total angel investments reached $25.6 billion, which represents an increase of 10.8 percent over 2005. According to the study, 51,000 entrepreneurial ventures received angel funding in 2006, a 3 percent increase from 2005.